Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key Part 20

The arrival of Mrs. Leeds cut short the conversation. The girls hastily returned the alb.u.m to the table drawer but not quickly enough to avoid being detected. Mrs. Leeds triumphantly pounced on the leather bound book.

"Only an old-fas.h.i.+oned alb.u.m," she said in disappointment, tossing it aside.

"Did you think it was the will?" Penny chuckled as she and Rosanna departed.

The girls impatiently awaited the coming of night. Penny had determined to make a supreme effort to discover the cause of the mysterious organ music. At first Rosanna had been enthusiastic over the plan but as nightfall approached she tried to dissuade her friend.

"It's too dangerous," she insisted. "Please give up the scheme."

Penny shook her head. She had made up her mind to spend the night on the third floor. Soon after the household retired she intended to steal upstairs and establish herself by the door of the conservatory.

Evening came. At nine Mrs. Leeds and her daughter shut themselves into the bedroom which they had selected since their upsetting experience with bats. At eleven Penny heard Max Laponi's door close.

She looked out into the hall. It was dark and deserted.

"Please don't attempt it," Rosanna s.h.i.+vered. "What if something should happen?"

"I hope it does," Penny said grimly. "It won't be any fun to sit up half the night without any purpose. I'll be disappointed if our ghost fails to provide his usual midnight concert."

"If anything goes wrong scream for help," Rosanna urged. "I'll run for a.s.sistance."

Penny promised. While Rosanna stood at the bedroom door watching, she tiptoed down the hall, past Mrs. Leeds' room, past Laponi's chamber to the third floor stairs.

There she hesitated. Without a light the region above looked even more dark and awe-inspiring than she had remembered it.

"Coward!" she accused herself, and quietly went up, leaving the door unlocked behind her.

All was quiet on the third floor. Penny tried the door to the conservatory expecting to find it locked. To her astonishment it opened.

The discovery disconcerted her for an instant. A minute later she mustered her courage and stepped inside the room.

In the darkness she could make out objects only vaguely. The organ with its huge pipes occupied one end of the room. Sheet-draped chairs gave everything a ghostly atmosphere not at all conducive to a peaceful state of mind.

After making a brief inspection of her quarters Penny sat down on the floor with her back against the outside door. She riveted her eyes upon the organ.

Time dragged slowly. When it seemed to Penny that several hours must have pa.s.sed, she heard a clock downstairs striking eleven-thirty.

"At least another half hour to wait," Penny thought, s.h.i.+fting into a more comfortable position.

She grew drowsy. Several times she caught herself on the verge of napping. She aroused herself only to find her eyes growing heavy again.

It became increasingly difficult to watch the organ.

"I wish that ghost would hurry up and come," she mused impatiently.

"Perhaps after all my trouble this won't be one of his working nights!"

That was the last thought of which she was aware. Suddenly she heard soft organ music rolling and swelling about her. With a start she aroused herself. She had been sleeping.

It took an instant for Penny to gather her wits. She was still sitting with her back to the conservatory door. Yet at the far end of the great room, she distinctly could see a shadowy figure seated at the organ.

Penny scrambled to her feet, starting forward. The floor creaked alarmingly.

Penny halted, but too late. She had given warning of her presence.

The shadowy figure at the organ jerked into alert attention. There was a discordant crash of chords, then silence.

Penny blinked. She thought she had heard a sharp click as if a secret panel had opened and closed. That was all.

And the organist had disappeared.

CHAPTER XII A Suspicious Act

Penny caught herself s.h.i.+vering. She decided that she had seen quite enough for one night.

She turned toward the door, but with her hand on the bra.s.s k.n.o.b, stood tensely listening. Someone was tiptoeing along the hall. It occurred to her that the mysterious organist might have escaped from the music room by means of a secret panel which opened directly into the adjoining corridor. Even now he could be effecting his escape to the lower floor.

Crouching against the wall, Penny waited. She was startled to hear the footsteps coming closer. Then the door opened a tiny crack and the beam of a flashlight slowly circled the room.

"Penny!" an anxious voice whispered. "Where are you?"

Penny laughed in relief as she reached out to grip Rosanna's hand.

"Oh! How you startled me!" the girl gasped. "I'm so glad you're safe, Penny. You stayed up here so long that I was frightened."

"I had to wait for the ghost."

"I heard the music," Rosanna said in awe. "It broke off so suddenly."

"That was because I frightened the ghost away. At first I thought perhaps I had dreamed it all, but if you heard the music too then it must have been real."

"It was real enough. But it lasted only a minute or two."

"When the organist saw me I suspect he slipped out of the room by means of a secret panel," Penny reported. "But where he went is a mystery. You didn't see anyone as you came up the stairs to find me?"

"No, I'm sure no one was in the hall, Penny."

"I'm as certain as anything that this room has a secret entrance. Give me your flashlight and we'll see what we can discover."

"Not tonight," Rosanna s.h.i.+vered, pulling her friend toward the door. "We can come back in the morning."

"The room may be locked again then."

"That's so."

"Let's take advantage of the opportunity while we have it."

Rosanna handed over the flashlight and together they crossed the room to the big organ. They inspected it with interest and Penny ran her fingers lightly over the keys. However, no sound came forth.